According to a ministerial order dated September 9, 2025, the physicist, Oday A. Al-Owaedi, who also goes by several other names, defrauded "researchers by collecting money from them under the pretext of publishing their papers in reputable international journals as promised, while in fact falsifying and forging publication in fake websites." The document also stated Al-Owaedi falsified "the scientific content of research papers, knowingly, by inserting his name and his scientific works as references in these allegedly published papers."

Al-Owaedi’s publishing scheme centered on a conference that was organized by a prominent association of Iraqi academics. In messages posted to the conference’s now-deleted Telegram group, Al-Owaedi, who chaired the organizing committee for the event, claimed he had made a deal with Elsevier to publish hundreds of papers at discounted prices. Authors were required to pay "publication fees" after receiving a preliminary acceptance notice from the conference, but before publication. These fees varied by journal, but typically amounted to US$650.

The scam included a deal between a prominent association of Iraqi academics and a predatory publisher, as well as the creation of a fake journal website and bogus acceptance letters purporting to be from reputed journals.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2025/09/19/exclusive-iraq-physicist-oday-al-owaedi-fired-ministry-publishing-scam/

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